Jerome Boateng shares his admiration for Hansi Flick, reacts to drawing Chelsea in the Champions League

When Hansi Flick was promoted to head coach after the resignation of Niko Kovač, almost everything at Bayern Munich took a positive turn. It did not take much time for Flick to earn the respect and attention of the players. In an interview given to AZ, Jérôme Boateng discussed how he feels working under Flick.

The World Cup winner, who failed to deliver his best performance in the past few games, said that Flick reflects some qualities of his former coach Jupp Heynckes. Just like what Philippe Coutinho said in an interview the previous week, Boateng is another player who has admiration for how Flick manages to make every single player realise their importance in the team:

Hansi is simply a top coach. He has absolutely earned that. He is outstanding as a person, has a great feel for us. Hansi engages with us players very respectfully and professionally, with those who play and with those who don’t. He gives everyone the feeling that he’s important to the team. And that is very important at a club like Bayern.

The front office will reach a decision regarding the new coach this weekend. It is not yet certain whether we may see someone new on the sidelines or if the board will let Flick continue his job. What we know now is that Boateng, and possibly most of the other players, are happy under Flick and would want to see him sign a permanent contract.

Boateng compared Flick to Jupp Heynckes:

It’s like under Jupp Heynckes, who really did it outstandingly with all his experience. Hansi is not far off from him. I think every one of us would be happy to continue with Hansi. He’s doing great, with the whole team. The team would be happy [if he stayed], but that’s out of our hands.

Bayern has drawn Frank Lampard’s Chelsea FC in the Champions League Round of 16, and the Germans are anticipating a payback for the 2012 finals. Boateng, who has played and won a very large number of knockouts, thinks that Chelsea is an interesting and difficult opponent:

Chelsea is an interesting draw, a difficult opponent. You can say that we are the favorites. The exit against Liverpool last season is a big motivation for us. And I’m not used to FC Bayern exiting so early, but rather at least reaching the semifinals.

There is enough quality in the Bayern squad for them to reach the later stages of knockouts. Boateng has full faith that, if things go right, the team can reach the finals. Boateng said:

The city and the club are wishing for another final [at home], but a lot has to come together for that. The right form at the right time. The Champions League is also always a bit of luck, especially in close games. But we have the quality in the team.

The defender is going through a really difficult time in Munich — he was criticised widely for his lacklustre performance against Werder Bremen the previous weekend. Be that as it may, it seems like the 31-year-old is aiming at a better Rückrunde from his part and is expecting more trophies.